Kaiba’s Christmas Carol
by Kagome Mokuba
Summary: Kaiba plays Scrooge in this AU Christmas story, who is visited by three ghosts. Will Kaiba change his ways, or do the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future this time have more than they can handle?
1. Chapter 1: Introducing Scrooge

**Title:** Kaiba's Christmas Carol 

**Author:** Kagome Mokuba & Clarity2199

**RATING:** PG-13

Clarity Narr: General/Humor, warning on possible adult language. This story is an AU based on the Xmas story, "A Christmas Carol", where as Kaiba is playing the obvious part of 'Scrooge'. Hope you enjoy! 

**Mokuba A/N: **Note this story isn't connected to Seto's Wish in any way. It's its own story. Please note that this isn't your typical 'Christmas Carol' story. This is a 'realistic' version. So no comments saying 'This isn't how the movies always go!' It's not suppose to. Hence the word 'realistic'!

Note that Mokuba's b-day is normally in July, but not for this story.

**Disclaimer**: This is a Yugioh Christmas story. Because we the writers are American and not Japanese, we are basing any holidays mentioned in this story as how Americans would experience them. We are not aware of how the holidays are celebrated in Japan. If anyone has a problem with that, they are welcome to find Japanese writers to read what they may define as a more appropriate Yugioh Xmas fic. But we can only write based on the knowledge we have. You have been warned.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x **

Chapter 1: Introducing Scrooge 

It was the day before Christmas vacation, and all the school kids were excited and couldn't wait for this day to end. Well...there was one who didn't seem to care, either way. Kaiba sat in his desk, typing away at his laptop. This was a rare occasion to not see Kaiba writing down his homework at the same time. And that was because...there was no homework.

Class had just ended and everyone was packing up to lunch. Yugi and his friends were chatting away, talking about their Christmas party. As they did, Yugi poked his head out from the group of them, looking over at Kaiba. He left the group that silenced everyone, realizing what he was doing, and headed over to Kaiba's desk.

Never looking up (or being Yugi's height, looking down) from his seat, Kaiba asked, "What is it, Yugi?"

"Kaiba, we're going to have a Christmas party over at my place. I was wondering if you would like to come?" Yugi asked.

Kaiba inwardly groaned, knowing this was coming. Why can't Yugi get the hint? "Yugi, do you remember when you asked me this same question last year?"

"Yeah, I do." Yugi said.

"And what was my answer?"

Yugi was already beginning to look shot-down. "You said no."

"Well...then I guess you have my answer." Kaiba smirked, as he continued to type.

Joey then jumped over to defend his friend, saying, "What's your problem, Kaiba? Is having a good time more than you can handle? Is it against your reputation to show the world you might be capable of having some fun?"

Kaiba grunted in annoyance. "I don't waste my time on fun. I have a business to run."

"What??" Joey asked. "You gotta be kidding. You're not actually keeping your business running on Christmas day!"

"No...it's going to be closed." Kaiba stated.

"Then what's your problem?" Joey asked.

Finally, Kaiba stopped typing and looked over, glaring up at Joey. "Not that it's any of your business, but there is a very important meeting for the higher executives of the company on that day. Since everyone else has the day off on Christmas, it makes the perfect day for closing the books on our End of Year accounting schedule."

Tristan then came over, unable to believe what he was hearing. "You're trying to tell us that on the happiest family day of the year, you're at Kaiba Corp doing accounting work??"

"No." Kaiba said sharply. "I am saying that on Christmas, which is hardly what I call the happiest day of the year for anyone, I am overseeing that my accountants and lawyers are doing an appropriate job at closing my books for me."

"Well you know, Kaiba...maybe if you weren't breathing down people's backs on Christmas, it would be a more happier day for ya!" Joey spit back.

"Yeah, and it's not right to make any of your employees work on Christmas day!" Tea said.

Kaiba smirked, seeing their sense of Christmas to be so naive and delusional. "Do you honestly believe that Christmas is supposed to be this joyous day for anyone? My executives should be thanking me for making them work. Of course none of you see it, yet...after all, you haven't left school and moved into the 'real world', yet. Maybe you geeks should look around once in a while. Among those adults like myself who are responsible in the world, I probably enjoy this holiday more than most...which doesn't say much about Christmas."

"What are you saying, Kaiba...that people hate Christmas? This is a day when everyone's family enjoys the holidays. We understand you may not have much of a family, but you still have Mokuba. People enjoy Christmas. Doesn't Mokuba enjoy celebrating it?" Tea asked.

"Keep my family out of it." Kaiba hissed dangerously. "People do not enjoy the holidays. They 'dread' the holidays. After Thanksgiving, for the next three weeks they are running around spending most of the money they had saved up during the year on worthless gifts and toys for greedy children that don't appreciate it. Why? Because Christmas advertising guilted them into thinking that if they don't, then they are terrible parents. They are constantly fighting through crowds of other people to find gifts that might have already been sold out. They then make it home to fight with the lighting and cheap decorations to once again make their ungrateful children happy. Let's not forget the hours of wrapping they had to do if they don't spend a few hours in line at the mall gift wrapper. When Christmas day comes, they are constantly cleaning up after the kids, who unwrapped and threw their packing everywhere. The wife works and slaves over a stove most of the day cooking for them, as the rest of the family fights with their in-laws who they never wanted to see again. So, I'm afraid most of the world isn't exactly cheering for Christmas...they're cheering for Christmas to be over with."

"You know, you have got the be the most moodiest pessimistic jerk I have ever seen!" Joey snapped at him. "And maybe you can tell us 'Mr. know it all' how the hell you know this, when the only family you have to deal with is Mokuba? Especially, when all those other things you mentioned you can just hire to do for you!"

Kaiba turned back to laptop now, answering, "Simple. I hear the same thing every year from over 90 percent of my employees."

"You know, Kaiba...one of these days, you're going to regret your words and the decisions you made around these times." Tea said. "You're going to look back and wish you joined your friends on the holidays, and had fun with us!"

Kaiba shook his head, then turned to them dangerously. He hissed, "How many times do I have to tell you people..." His voice then boomed out, "I'm not interested in friends!!! Now, take your damn friendship group, and get out!"

Yugi's group rushed away from Kaiba's yelling. After they were gone, Kaiba smiled. 'Finally, peace and quiet...' He even got a bonus with this moment...he got to scare the wits out of Yugi's little group.


	2. Chapter 2: Christmas Blues!

Chapter 2: Christmas Blues! 

After school ended, Kaiba went straight to work. Unexpectedly, one of his workers... Bob Elliot was waiting outside his office, and wanting to talk to him. Bob Elliot was one of 20 lawyers that were scheduled to work on Christmas day. Kaiba didn't much care for him, really...he was too much of a whiner and a slacker for his taste.

"Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Elliot?

"Oh, um...well I'd like to speak with you…"

"Of course you want to speak to me." Kaiba said, rolling his eyes. "If you didn't, you would be working instead of standing in front of my office and delaying my busy schedule."

"Yes. Well...perhaps we can go in your office, and talk." he suggested.

Kaiba glared down at him, not having time to waste on this nobody. "Just spit it out."

"You mean, right here?" He asked nervously.

Kaiba glared at him. "Any reason why we shouldn't?"

"Oh, uh...no. No reason, I guess."

"So, what do you want? You're wasting my time, Mr. Elliot." Kaiba muttered, looking away from him and at the paperwork he just received from his secretary on the way here.

"I…I wanted to know if I could have tomorrow off? I know we have to close out the books on Christmas...but, my wife wants us to go visit her family and…"

"Get to the point, or get out. I'm not interested in your personal life, nor your problems."

"My wife's family lives in Chess City, just outside of Domino and she wants to spend all of Christmas and the weekend there, since Christmas day is a Friday."

"Hold on." Kaiba said, putting his hand up to shut him up. "You honestly think that the day before our closing schedule, I'm just going to let you take the entire weekend off, simply on the basis of it being Christmas?"

Elliot backed up nervously, running into Kaiba's office door in the process. "Oh, no...of course not. It's not just because of that. You see, my wife just had a baby! She wants to show it off to her family. And...it would really be a good time for her husband to be there for her and the new child. Umm...that's why I'm requesting time off."

"...and you want off from Friday until Sunday." Kaiba said.

"Well...no. Actually, Friday through Monday." he said.

Kaiba's hand came up, rubbing the bridge of his nose for a moment, as he asked, "Tell me...how long have you worked here?"

"Almost three years, sir."

Kaiba added, "And you are perfectly aware that we do the closings every year at Christmas, with no exception?"

"Yes, sir...but just this once, I really wanted to spend the holidays with my family!"

"You are also aware that for requests on time-off, you are supposed give advanced notice?" Kaiba asked calmly.

"Oh...yes. Well, you see...at the time..."

"You had at least nine months to know of this coming child. There is no excuse for waiting till Christmas Eve to ask for Christmas time off." Kaiba snapped.

Mr. Elliot lowered his head, saying, "I am very sorry for such a last minute request, but..."

Again, Kaiba put his hand up to shut the man up. He then turned to his secretary, and asked, "Cynthia...does Mr. Elliot here have any vacation time or sick days left?"

The secretary quickly typed up his schedule on the computer to find out the information. "Actually sir, he's not only used up all his vacation time, but his sick days for the year. He called in sick enough to cover next year as well. When he requested extended vacation time, it was granted along with a dock in pay to cover this extra time."

"Oh, yes." Mr. Elliot suddenly said, as her pointing out his schedule reminded him of something. "Actually...I was wanting to discuss that, too. I don't understand why my pay was docked."

"I don't offer extended vacation time." Kaiba replied. "It's counted the same as if you never called to say you weren't coming in. If you had a medical emergency and can prove this, I will reconsider your dock in pay."

"Well, my youngest child was in and out of the hospital and…"

"And? Where was your wife?"

"Oh, she was there. We both took time off just to be there and sit with him."

"You all ready had your wife taking off of work to be with him. So, you admit to taking time off unnecessarily, to sit at your son's bedside doing nothing? You could have easily come to me with this matter, and been given assignments in which you could do at home and…"

The man interrupted Kaiba. "But I wanted to be there for him! What about your brother? When he's sick, do you sit there and just do work...or are you there for him?"

Kaiba now glared down at him, angry that he dared attempt to use his brother as some kind of weapon against him. "First of all, my brother is none of your business. Secondly...you all ready had your wife there, meaning you didn't need to be there, at all." He then glanced over at his secretary again, asking, "Cynthia?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Add up all the sick days this man took over the normal allotted ones. Then dock him for those, and fix up a severance check for anything that's left. Then, have security help him to clear out his desk and take his security badge."

"Mr. Kaiba, what are doing?" Elliot asked.

"Quite simple, really...I'm firing you. Now, get out of my sight before I change my mind and take what little is probably left of your pay check and use it towards your extended vacation time as well!" Kaiba then moved the guy out of his way, walked in, and slammed the door to his office in the man's face.

Elliot then turned to Cynthia, begging, "You'll talk to him for me, won't you? Get him to change his mind?"

"Sorry, Bob...I like my job. I'm not about to go against Mr. Kaiba's wishes. Besides, once he makes up his mind, everyone knows he doesn't change it." She shook her head, saying, "You really shouldn't have brought up his brother, Bob. After 3 years, you should know better."

In fact, right after the situation with Bob, Kaiba also made sure to add a memo to the entire employee staff, stating: Attention all employees, you should all remember if you read your contracts that extended vacation days are rarely granted and you must have a valid reason for it. If you take more sick days than all ready granted then you might find your pay has been docked for the time you lost. You may however request overtime to make up for it. If you do not like this you're welcome to leave! Medical emergencies are judged on a case-by-case basis, and again are rarely given out.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

That night, Kaiba came home exhausted. He was so sick and tired of seeing Christmas everywhere! If it weren't for the studies that have proven how celebrating major holidays can boost moral, he'd forbid them to decorate the office.

Kaiba thought about his plans for the evening. Normally, he would try and enjoy his evenings spending them with his brother. But, not now...not during Christmas. Mokuba was well aware that Kaiba wanted nothing to do with this holiday in particular. As much as he loved his brother, he couldn't bring himself to want to do anything but to be alone and work...allowing himself to burry his thoughts in anything but this time of year. Once Christmas was over, he would have no problems returning to the normal routine.

Yet avoiding his brother also brought him twinges of guilt. Fortunately, he made sure to remind Mokuba of Yugi's party whenever he could. Unlike many years, at least Mokuba could go somewhere during Christmas this time and enjoy the holiday, allowing him the peace and quiet he wanted without the feeling that he was somehow wronging his brother.

Kaiba walked in the door to greet his brother as usual...and at first, everything seemed to be as it should. But, as he looked around he noticed the same disturbing objects were still in the house that was there yesterday...and was supposed to be removed. "MOKUBA!"

Mokuba came running down the stairs and into the living room. He was about to tackle his brother with a welcome home hug, when he noticed Seto didn't exactly look happy.

"Um...is something wrong, Seto?"

Kaiba pointed to a corner of the room, "Why is that still there?"

Mokuba gulped, looking over at the Christmas tree and presents that he had asked to be moved. Mokuba had hoped if he maybe came back home in a better mood, he wouldn't care so much. It was a shame that work always made his brother so miserable during the Christmas holidays. "But, Seto...it's Christmas. We should celebrate it, too."

"There's nothing to celebrate!" he snapped.

"But...tomorrow's Christmas! I know the meeting's during the day, but can't we do something afterwards?"

"NO!" he snapped. Taking a calm breath, Kaiba once again rubbed between his eyes where he felt the migraine coming on. He just wanted some rest and time to not constantly be reminded of this cursed holiday. "I'll be at this meeting all day, tomorrow. When I get home, I'm going to need some much-needed rest. You already know that Yugi's holding his usual Christmas party. If you really need to celebrate Christmas, you can go over there and have fun."

Mokuba looked down in disappointment. "I know, Seto. But, I was really hoping to spend time with you."

"That's not going to happen." Kaiba said. He moved away, heading for the stairs so he didn't feel guilt once again at seeing his brother looking so down. He hated disappointing his brother, and really hoped this party would actually cheer him up. But, Mokuba knew how much he hated the holidays...he should have been used to this, by now. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll make it up to you when Christmas is over. We'll take some time off, then."

"Okay." Mokuba nodded, knowingly...but he still wished his brother would be there for him on Christmas.

Heading up the stairs, he added, "I mean it about that tree, Mokuba. I want it gone by tomorrow." With a sneer, he added, "Maybe you can bring it Yugi's party as a welcoming gift."

"Yes, big brother." Mokuba mumbled.

"I'll be in my office."

Mokuba looked dejected and took the presents upstairs to add to his collection. He never unwrapped them or took them back. Every year, he hoped he could convince his brother to celebrate it with him. He never said his brother had to like or even love it. But, he felt he could at least try for once, and see that it's not so bad.

It made Mokuba wonder at times, as he stared at the unopened presents...was it really work that made his brother hate the Christmas holidays so much, or was it something more?


	3. Chapter 3: Kaiba is Haunted

**Chapter 3: Kaiba is Haunted**

Kaiba sat at his desk alone, typing away at his computer, as he emailed his lawyers, making all the preparations for tomorrow's meetings.

As he did, there was a light rap at the door.

"Come in." he said gruffly, barely acknowledging anything but the laptop in front of him.

Mokuba cautiously entered, and stood at the other side of the desk, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Trying to be patient, Kaiba finally stopped work completely and turned to his brother, asking, "What is it?"

"Well...it's just...are you sure you can't come tomorrow to Yugi's

Christmas party? It would be fun, and it's at night so it shouldn't get in the way of your meeting..."

"Mokuba..." Kaiba said, trying to keep from getting frustrated at the same questions. "You know my answer."

"But, Seto..."

"Why are you pushing this issue? It's the same thing every year." Kaiba stated.

"I know that! That's why I'm pushing it! Before, we never really had anywhere to go, anyway. But, this year you have a chance to have fun and be with friends, and..."

Kaiba cut him off, stating, "First of all...I don't believe in friendship.

Secondly...unless it's business, I don't find any pleasure in 'mingling', especially with the nerd squad."

"But..."

"You should be happy about this change." Kaiba added. "You finally get to throw all the Christmas cheer you want to whoever you want. And still you're not happy."

Mokuba lowered his head. "But, it's just not the same without you."

Kaiba sighed, and tiredly brushed his hair back from his face. "You need to understand...the situation you're trying to throw me into would not allow me to enjoy myself. I don't like the holidays. Being alone during this time of year is my enjoyment."

"But, why?" Mokuba said.

"It just is." he said, turning back to his laptop. "Besides...going to school has been pushing me behind in some of my work. This will allow me to catch up. By focusing on work during the holidays, it'll allow us to maximize profit values on our products."

"I thought we were already doing good." Mokuba said.

Kaiba replied, "We can do better."

Mokuba sighed, and nodded his head, knowing there was simply no reasoning with him. "Yes, Seto."

"Good...now go to sleep. It's late." he said.

Mokuba sadly went to the door, adding, "Just don't stay up too late." And left, heading to bed.

Staying up late was what Kaiba wanted to do...but Mokuba was right. He should go to bed at a reasonable time to be well rested and prepared for tomorrow's meeting.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Night had fallen, and Kaiba was laying in bed asleep...his alarm set to get up on Christmas to go to work. As he slept, a ghostly figure appeared in his room. 'Setoooo...Setoooo...' "Get up, boy!"

Kaiba's eyes shot open, and looked up to see of all people, Gozaburo Kaiba standing there in chains near his bed side. Kaiba blinked a couple times at the ghostly figure of his stepfather near his bed. Then with a tired groan, he reached for his nightstand, pulling out a bottle of hard liquor and some sleeping pills.

"Goddamn nightmares." he grumbled, planning on getting the nightmares of his stepfather from his head the quickest way he could. Such a vision was no surprise to him, since one way or another; his stepfather had always haunted his mind. The only difference was...he was normally not in chains.

"You can't drink me away, Seto!" Gozaburo snapped. "I thought I brought you up stronger than that, you worthless excuse for a...agh!!" As Gozaburo started trying to lecture him, more chains were formed on Gozaburo, weighing him down even more. "I - I mean...you have to change your ways, Seto!

You have to stop being heartless, and care more."

Kaiba had already drunk down his pills when Gozaburo began to tell him how worthless he was. But as the event unfolded on watching Gozaburo suffer, and his attempt to be nice...Kaiba paused, staring at him. An instant later, Kaiba practically spit out his drink in laughter. "I don't know what's in this stuff...but it's not bad." he chuckled a bit, picking up the pill jar to look over its ingredients.

"This has nothing to do with those pills you're using, Seto! Listen to me...if you continue the path you're taking, you're going to end up just like me!" Gozaburo snapped.

Kaiba looked back over at him, tossing the pill jar carelessly back into the drawer. Then giving a smirk, he muttered, "Well, that's interesting...and all this time I thought that's what you wanted was for me to be you. So, old man...I guess you succeeded."

"Huh...good. Then soon enough 'you'll' suffer the same...agh!!" Again, more chains were suddenly piled on top of Gozaburo, as he spit out, "Wait! Wait! I mean...you don't want to end up like this! You have to stop now, before it's too late! Don't you see what's happening to me? I didn't care about anything and look at me, now. I am living my eternal death bound in these damn chains! How the hell do these spirits expect me to even walk in these blasted things! I can't even have a cigar!"

Kaiba plopped back down on his pillow, feeling the dreariness from the pills, as he mumbled, "Yer boring me, old man...go away and let me sleep."

"Your pills won't let you escape from this night, Seto. You will be haunted by three ghosts!" Gozaburo stated.

"So, I have two more annoyances?" Kaiba tiredly asked.

"What? No...you have three ghosts, three! You got that?" Gozaburo snapped.

Groggily, Kaiba glared back at Gozaburo, saying, "Aren't you a ghost? So, that would mean I have two more. In case you have forgotten in your death, and chains, and lack of smoking... 3 - 1 2."

"Grrrrr...fine! Then 4 ghosts, satisfied, 4 ghosts will haunt you? Either way, there are three more on the way, and they're going to show you what a moron you've been. Which is probably the only thing I agree with them about. Agghh!!"

Again more chains got thrown on top. Gozaburo dug through them, peeling his face back out from the top of them, as he snapped at some unforeseen force, "Stop this! I did my part...we had a deal! Now, get rid of these damn things covering me! You hear me? Wait...what are you doing?? Nooooo!!!"

Gozaburo then faded away, without one small piece of chain relieving the weight off of him.

But, Kaiba didn't notice. During the time Gozaburo was fighting with some other spiritual force that could not be seen, the mix of alcohol and drugs in Kaiba's system knocked him out and he collapsed onto the bed, practically unconscious.

Yet, somehow...Kaiba woke up later.

"Seto Kaiba..." a ghostly female voice called out.

Kaiba awakened, and sat up from bed, feeling oddly awake. His door was opened and light was shining through it. Angrily, he got up...assuming one of the help carelessly left a light on that woke him, and stormed over to the door to yell at whoever dared commit such a sinful act in his house, in the middle of the night.

At the doorway, Kaiba instantly froze. Through the door he no longer saw a hallway that was normally outside of it. Instead, it was one big-lighted room, filled with flowers, and fairies, and Christmas decorations, and cutesy Duel Monsters fluttering about.

On a big thrown, a woman all dressed up in some renaissance gown smiled over to him, saying, "Welcome, Seto! I am the ghost of Christmas Past."


	4. Chapter 4: Christmas Past

Chapter 4: Christmas Past 

Kaiba blinked, then slammed the door on her. He calmly turned and walked back to his drawer, to get a better look at those drugs he took. If there's anything illegal in them, he was definitely going to give his doctor an earful, as well as probably press charges. Hopefully the doctor was trustworthy and wasn't out to kill him. Yet, his drawer was empty with no sign of the pills or the liquor bottle.

"This has got to be one messed up dream." he muttered.

At once, the door blew open, shaking with such violence it's surprising that it didn't blow right off their hinges.

The fairy woman entered looking rather torked, saying, "It is not wise to slam the door on the ghost of Christmas Past. Don't you know that if you try to bury your past, it'll only come back to haunt you?"

Kaiba stretched, muttering, "Whatever...just go away. I'd like to wake up, if you don't mind." Kaiba then started to crawl back into bed.

But, the woman wouldn't let him, grabbing him with inhuman-like strength. "It's time to go Seto, and visit your past."

Before he knew it, Kaiba was being dragged into the air, flying through the snowy city, being held up by this ghostly woman, and strangely enough...he wasn't cold. Looking around, he know knew for sure there had to be something illegal slipped into those pills.

They landed at some small house outside the window, as she asked. "Tell me, Seto...does this place look familiar to you?"

"No. And the point is?" Kaiba asked.

"The point is you should know...it was your very first home." she told him.

Kaiba crossed his arms, muttering, "Is this supposed to impress me?" He turned away, adding, "For an illegal drug, it isn't offering much of a buzz. If I'm going to have hallucinations, you'd think the doctor would make sure I'd at least enjoy it."

"This has nothing to do with your pills, Seto. Look into the window and see what was." she said.

Kaiba gave a loud sigh of irritation, and turned to her, not looking very happy. "Listen, lady...I don't care if you were Marry Poppins. First of all, it's not polite to go staring into other people's windows. And second...this is my dream. I'll do what I want."

She gave an almost smirk back, as the ghost told him, "First of all, no one will see us. And secondly...I would think that you would like to see your mother alive and well again."

"My...what?" Kaiba asked, and glared into the window to see what this fairy-like woman was talking about. Sure enough, there was his mother in the small little house, with Christmas decorations everywhere. She was hunched down, handing the Christmas star to a very small 6-year-old Seto, who was all smiles. He gladly took the star and rushed over to his Dad, so that he could pick the boy up, as he placed the star on the top of the tree.

Kaiba's eyes widened, presently lost in the moment of what he was seeing. "Mother..." he whispered unconsciously, seeing a moment in his life he could barely even remember. And yet, as he watched it, those memories were coming to him.

"You were so happy then...so full of life, full of hope." the woman said to him. "The Christmas spirit was never stronger within you, then."

Kaiba said nothing, but frowned as he looked more carefully at his mother. She was happy, but looked very tired, and her stomach...she was expecting soon.

Kaiba looked away, muttering, "This was the last Christmas I ever spent with them. She died two months later after Mokuba was born. Father died a year after that on Christmas day. He had fallen apart after she was gone. Without her, he didn't have the strength to continue on."

Kaiba lowered his head, hissing, "God dammit, I hate these damn nightmares..."

He then glared up at her and said, "Listen, lady...I take those pills to try to get rid of moments like this. I don't know what the point of this ridiculous dream is, but I want out of it NOW!"

"You obviously didn't hear what I said to you earlier, Seto. If you try and bury the past, it will only come back to haunt you." she said.

"And, so you're saying by re-living the last Christmas with my parents and remembering both their deaths during this time, this is suppose to be beneficial how?"

"It's to make you remember the joy and love that was in your heart then."

"In that case, you failed. Now, let me get home and wake up from this nightmare."

"Not just yet. We have more places to visit."

"No, thanks."

"I didn't say you had a choice, Seto."

The ghost waved her arm and soon they were inside the orphanage. There were lots of kids running around and taking presents from the workers. "Do you remember this? The workers were so nice and kind giving the children presents."

Kaiba glanced over at the version of himself reading a book, totally avoiding all the other kids. The only time he looked up was to check on his brother once in awhile, before going to back to his reading. "Not really. In case you haven't notice, I wasn't paying much attention."

"But, you wanted to. You wanted to be part of the fun and joy, then." she said.

"I wanted to be with Mokuba." Kaiba answered. "But I couldn't. On Christmas, I was normally locked away from the other kids, being punished for protecting my brother from the bullies there."

"And yet, even now you continue the same tradition of locking yourself away, this time without being force to." she said.

Kaiba turned and glared at her, snapping, "Who the hell are you to judge me? You're supposed to be a ghost. Have you ever been alive before and been in my position? If the answer is no to either of those question, then you have no right to tell me I should change!"

Kaiba then turned to the group, as he continued to spout, "This whole damn picture is nothing but a sham! You think those employees give a damn about those kids? It's not their money...it's not even the orphanage's money that got those toys. Every worthless piece of plastic was donation money that could have been better spent on clothes and blankets, rather than this useless crap!"

"Well...the children and even your brother seem happy with the new toys."

Kaiba retorted, "They would have liked new clothes and blankets to keep them warm at night just as well."

"Is that the reason you send blankets and money specifically marked for new clothes to the orphanage every year?"

Kaiba huffed, "It's a good tax deduction."

The woman smiled and nodded her head. "Of course it is."

"You really need to make up your mind. Am I supposed to be haunted because I'm ignoring Christmas, or are you parading me around because I'm such a good Samaritan?" he snapped back at her.

At that moment, Mokuba approached Seto, offering him a Christmas gift that he had made for him. Seto smiled. It almost made the present-day Kaiba smile, seeing it.

"Even the simplest of gifts can make the loneliest of people smile on Christmas. At least back then, you tried to make the best of the holidays, and attempted to make this holiday into something better than you remembered." she said to him.

"Hmph." he grunted. "One of many past mistakes, I suppose."

"So, you should have been more persistent in pushing him away and telling him how you hate Christmas?" she asked him.

"No." Kaiba said, looking away. "He was too young to understand then, anyway."

Then turning back towards her, he snapped, "And I'm not pushing him away! I do everything for my brother. There's only one thing I've ever asked of him and that's to leave me alone on Christmas. If that's too much to ask, then that's too damn bad! Personally, my family is none of your damn business!"

"Must you always look upon things so negatively? How can living with much hate in your heart help you?" she asked.

"You'd be surprised how far it's gotten me." he smirked. He crossed his hands imperiously in front of him, stating, "So, what's next? Is this the part where you cast me to my Christmas's with Gozaburo, to show me all the wonderful times I had on Christmas over there? Because I can tell you now, you wont find any...so don't waste your time nor mine."

Christmas past replied sadly, "I don't think I need to show you. It's those times in your life that are burned into your mind the most. You never let them go. And it's his teachings that have caused you to hate so much."

"Tell me something I don't know. Are you done? You keep boring me like this and I'm going to go back to sleep before we make it back." Kaiba replied.

"Your brother had experienced no pleasant Christmas's during this time, either. And yet...he didn't allow Gozaburo to win and crush those spirits. You were the fighter, and yet...you had given up." she said.

"Are we done with the lecture?" Kaiba asked. "You know...maybe the wrong spirits are being used. Maybe you should bring Yugi over here to shatter my heart a second time, and see if that would help me gain interest in this stupid holiday. I'm not the only Christmas hater, you know...there are many people out there. I'm just a realist, that's all. This isn't a day for giving...this is a day for profit."

She glared angrily at him, stating, "There is nothing further I can do to help you."

In a blink of an eye, they were back to Kaiba's bedroom.

Kaiba went back to his bed, stating, "Good...maybe this loser dream is finally done trying to 'save' me." as he rolled over to sleep.

With a heavy sigh she added, "I wouldn't get too comfortable. The other two ghost shall be here for you soon." Then she vanished.

Kaiba just muttered, "Great, just what I need...more delusions to appear. As if I haven't had enough Christmas this holiday, I have to start having nightmares of tacky Christmas movies, now."


	5. Chapter 5: Christmas Present

Chapter 5: Christmas Present 

Kaiba groaned tiredly as he heard noises just outside his door. Was this night ever going to end?

'I might as well get this over with.' he thought and wearily got out of bed. He approached the door once again, that showed light around the cracks of the door and opened it. And the instant he looked in, he felt sick to his stomach.

There before him was a huge fat man dressed in a royal red robe, similar to what he and Mokuba had once worn during the psycho days when Gozaburo was still alive. And just to add insult to injury, this over-bloated man with thick reddish hair seemed to be picking up a whole chicken with his bare hands and diving into it with his mouth. After cleaning the meat off of it in seconds flat, 1/2 the chicken seemed to be left stuck in his beard.

Strangely, it reminded him of how Wheeler eats at lunch during the day...but even he isn't that bad.

Kaiba crossed his arms, looking sickly at him as he snapped, "There's a thing called table manners. You really should look it up."

The ghost looked over at him and swallowed what was left in his mouth. "Sorry, I missed dinner. I didn't think I'd disturb you."

"May I point out that my mahogany floors were just polished today. You better not make a mess on them with your 'lack of eating' skills. And if you needed to eat first, you should have done so before you showed up here. I could have used the extra rest." Kaiba coldly chided.

The ghost simply laughed merrily and snapped his fingers, causing the food to vanish. "My...I didn't realize you were in such a rush. Then let's get to business, shall we?"

Kaiba shrugged, looking away. "Whatever. Just make sure to wash your face first. I don't even want your spirit world to see me associating with you, looking like that."

The ghost snapped his fingers again, making himself instantly clean. "My...what a harsh judgment you have over others."

"I take it as a see it." Kaiba replied. "I also don't appreciate being woken up, constantly...I do have an important meeting tomorrow."

"Well...this shouldn't take too long." the ghost said. "Now, you've seen your past...it is now time to see your present."

Kaiba replied, "I'm more than aware of my present. I can't imagine you showing me something I don't already know."

"You may be surprised...there's quite a lot to see. There's quite a lot you're missing. Let us begin with the employee you fired, because the man cared for his family first over your business." Christmas present waved his hand, and they were then standing inside of a small 3-bedroom house.

Kaiba glared over at him. "So, now the ghosts are going to attempt to place judgment against me, because I fired someone who was nothing but a liability to our business? Let me tell you something...unlike you undead phantoms, I have a business to run and a life to live. I'm also not the only business in Domino City, which I'm sure would also be more than happy to fire someone who takes advantage of what's been offered to them."

"His child was sick, have you no sympathy?"

"First of all...one of them already took off of work to take care of the matter. They didn't both have to take off. Secondly, this was one offense of 'many' he had done. We have been more than generous with this man, and still that wasn't good enough. He got what he deserved." Kaiba replied.

Christmas Present stated, "A family with a sickly child may have no choice but to take off many days."

"Once again...they have two people in that family." Kaiba stated. "It's not my fault if they don't delegate themselves well. Secondly...I don't care. It's not my problem. If they want a charity organization, they should talk to the Salvation Army."

Suddenly, Kaiba was distracted from his talk, hearing 3 kids come running and screaming passed them. They were triplets about 9 years old, and Kaiba had to put his hands in front of his ears to dampen the noise from them. Then, an older girl about 14 came in holding a baby and yelling at the others to quiet down. She pulled out a baby bottle to heat it up.

As the girl pulled the bottle from the fridge, Kaiba could see that didn't have much inside. Then the mother came in, carrying what looked like a 5 year old, but was probably closer to 7...he was sick and frail, making him smaller than he should be.

Kaiba looked confused. "You...did say we were going to see something that had to do with my present life, correct?"

"That is right." the fat man smiled.

"So, where the hell are we? And what does this have to do with me?" Kaiba asked.

"Be patient, Kaiba...you'll see soon enough." Christmas present told him.

He glared at the bloated spirit, not liking to have to wait for anything. But then Bob Elliot entered the room, which instantly made it all clear to him. This must be Bob's family.

He kissed his wife, and together they made oatmeal for breakfast. Everyone grumbled, not wanting oatmeal again.

"Look, guys." Bob said to them. "Your mother and I just recently lost our jobs, and with the hospital bills...it's about all we can afford."

"I thought you and mom had upgraded to that new HMO?" the oldest girl asked.

"We did." Mom said. "But, with our jobs gone...we can't afford the insurance. It's too expensive."

Kaiba tuned out the rest of the conversation, and glared over at the ghost. It was obvious what this whole visit was about. He gave a cold sneer at the spirit, and replied, "Hmph...serves them right. When they don't do their jobs, they obviously get fired for it...even the wife. So, maybe you should have brought her boss down to see this too, in some lame attempt at sympathy. It only proves my point...no employer is just going to let their workers sit around and waste company time. No one...not me, and not anyone else. And if you thought for one moment this was going to move me in some way...you're obviously mistaken."

"Have you no heart?" the man asked. "That kid could have been anyone. It could have been the young boy who saved you and your brother time and time again. It could have been your brother."

"Don't even think of trying to use Mokuba against me like some kind of a weapon! It's not going to work!" Kaiba snapped. "I struggled all my life to ensure that my brother was kept safe. No one ever offered us sympathy, nor did I ever want it!"

"Is that why you refuse to help him? Because no one ever offered you help?" Christmas Present asked.

"Is there something you didn't hear?" Kaiba asked. "I also said I didn't want it. How convenient that you only hear what you want to hear." Kaiba then smirked, asking, "So, what exactly are you expecting from me out of this? Did you think I'd honestly just cave and give this worthless excuse for a person his job back? Maybe you think I'd give him a raise and pay for his hospital expenses..."

Christmas present smiled. "Why, that's very kind and generous of you there, Kaiba. I didn't think you had it in ya!"

"I don't." Kaiba snapped. "If you think for one minute I plan to do anything for this man, then you're obviously sorely mistaken."

"But, Kaiba...even when he was working for you, he and his wife just barely made ends meet!" Christmas present argued.

"They have 6 kids. They were well aware of their financial limitations. Just because the guy can't keep it in his pants, and the mother never learned what birth control is...that doesn't make it my problem. I didn't sleep with her...why should I have to support her?" Kaiba snapped.

The man nodded, "It is true that their money problems began after the kids were born...but no one could have predicted she'd end up having triplets."

"But, they had 3 more, besides that. It's fine if they want kids...but they also have to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions." Kaiba replied.

"But, there was no way to know one would become sick with a rare illness." Christmas present stated.

"It's a moot point." Kaiba said. "If they stopped after the triplets, they wouldn't be in this mess...they wouldn't have had to worry about a sick kid, because he wouldn't have been born." Kaiba gave a smirk. "You still seem to believe I might offer some show of pity. It's not going to happen. I too had a kid to raise...my own brother. I have been struggling all my life for him. And unlike that loser you're making me watch...I succeeded."

"Yes...you're brother Mokuba. Why don't we see what the present has to show about him..."

Before Kaiba knew what had happened, Christmas Present waved his robe in front of Kaiba's eyes. And when his robe dropped, they were now standing in the home of Yugi Motou.

It was painful for Kaiba to even look at the place...the entire household oozed of Christmas decorations and cheer. It made him almost as ill as watching the fat man eat.

They seemed to be going through picture albums and laughing over cheerful events, when the doorbell rang. Everyone looked over, surprised to hear it. After all...everyone they knew was already there.

"I'll get it!" Yugi called.

"Who do ya think's at the door?" Joey asked.

Tea shrugged. "I don't know. I mean...we're all here, and Bakura said he couldn't make it."

"Yeah, and the only other person Yugi invited was Kaiba." Tristan said. He then suddenly paled, muttering, "You don't think…"

"Yeah...right." Joey laughed. "Like Kaiba would ever show up here."

"Joey's right. Its probably just Christmas Carolers."

"Really??" Joey said, all smiles. "Oh, that's cool...I've never seen people out singing on Christmas! I always wanted to see that!"

"Well, too late...Yugi already almost at the door." Tristan said.

Joey looked over, then cried, "Wait!!" and leaped out of the chair after Yugi.

Just as Yugi had half-opened the door, he was quickly shoved out of the way from Joey, as he stuck his head out, saying, "I wanna see the singing!!"

What he saw was Mokuba blinking and staring up at him, strangely. "Uh...Joey?"

"Hey, you aint a Christmas Caroler! Uh...are ya?" Joey asked.

"No..." Mokuba said.

"Joey!" Yugi cried, moving him out of the way. "Sorry about that, Mokuba. I think Joey had too much Eggnog."

"That's okay." Mokuba smiled. "I'm here for the party, if that's okay with you."

"That's great!" Yugi said, opening the door. "We're glad you could make it."

Joey asked, "So where's yer brother?"

"Seto isn't coming."

"What?" Joey asked. "He made you come by yourself?"

"He didn't make me. I wanted to come. Seto's always hated Christmas." Mokuba replied.

Christmas present looked at Kaiba. "You didn't even go to at least drop him off?"

Kaiba crossed his arms in defiance. "Mokuba is not your typical 13 year old. He's also the Vice President of Kaiba Corp. I think he can handle doing this on his own, especially with the limo driver taking him."

And just as Kaiba stated so, the limo driver approached, saying, "Excuse me, Master Mokuba...don't forget your tree and presents." holding both.

"Presents!!" Joey beamed, as he quickly moved in, grabbing the presents from the guy.

Mokuba laughed, saying, "Thanks, Paul. I'll call you when I'm ready to leave."

"I'm not sure I should leave you, Master Mokuba." the driver said. "The storm's getting worse...and even with the snow tires, I'd fear getting back."

At that, Yugi smiled, "It's all right. We have plenty of room. Mokuba can stay in the spare bedroom, if it gets too bad out."

"But, sir...what of Master Kaiba?"

Mokuba shrugged, "Don't worry about it. Seto won't notice I'm not there. He doesn't like to be disturbed around this time, so it'll be all right. If I have to stay the night and you still can't come by morning, I'll try to remember to call Seto and let him know. But, really...he'll be so busy, he probably wont even notice."

Christmas present glared at Kaiba, who seemed surprised by this. At the mention of snow, he had looked out Yugi's window and noticed how hard it was getting. He didn't realize it had begun to snow at all, so consumed in trying not to pay attention. "How could he say that?" Kaiba muttered. "I'm always focused on him..."

"Are you?" Christmas Present asked. "Your brother seems quite used to how you are."

Kaiba turned towards him, and snapped, "That's only around now! I never stay away from him, otherwise! He knows that!"

"Only around now? So, what makes this time so different than any other time?" Christmas Present asked.

"That's none of your business! You want answers...go talk to that lady friend of yours, Christmas Past!" Kaiba hissed coldly.

As Kaiba argued, Yugi helped Mokuba out of his coat and showed him to where the party was set in the living room.

Joey snapped, "That lousy bastard can't even take time off to spend with his brother. What the hell kind of brother is that?"

Ignoring Joey, Tea asked, "So Mokuba, why did you bring a tree?"

"Oh. Well...every year I try to get Seto to celebrate Christmas. I put up a tree. but he always makes the servants throw it out. This year he told me to get rid of it anyway I could. He then suggested I bring it here."

"That prick wont even let you to put up a tree??" Joey asked.

"Now now, Joey...I'm sure Kaiba has his reasons for hating Christmas." Yugi said.

"Of course he does!" Joey snapped. "It's the season to be jolly, and have friends, and care for people. It figures he'd be the anti-Christ when it comes to Christmas!"

"Joey, that's not nice." Tea said.

Kaiba snapped, "So, is this the warm and happy moments that you were supposed to be showing me? The nerd quad pretending to offer me their fake friendship, only to talk behind my back when I'm not there. Somehow, I'm not surprised. If you think this is going to make me want to join in, then you seriously need to have your head examined. Should I assume you don't have any ghostly shrinks in the spirit realm?"

"As usual, you try and make humor over your lack of joy during the season. Does hiding in your room from all that is merry truly make you feel good?" Christmas Present asked.

"What I do with my time is my business. And you and your buddies sticking your nose in my business isn't going to change anything. So, tell me..." Kaiba stated. "Why do you do this? Do you have nothing better to do, since your dead? Do you pester every big businessman you can on Christmas Eve?"

The ghost waved his cape and brought him back to his room. "This night is not over. You will still be visited by..."

"Don't tell me." Kaiba said, putting his hand up. He smirked, seeming amused now. "As I've said before...I've seen this tacky story. So, I'm supposed to be playing the part of Scrooge then, am I?"

Kaiba then laughed, saying, "Well, humbug. You can take your preaching, and guilt trips, and shove it up every one of your ghostly asses. And don't think I don't know the outcome of this and where you're going. Christmas Future is going to show up and threaten my life. Well, let your pal know that he try all he likes...he wont be the first, and he certainly wont be the last. He also won't be the first to attempt to predict my future. I've changed my fate before...so whatever he has to show me doesn't mean a thing to me. And even if he's right and I'm destined to die...I don't care. I've prepared for that, too. Death doesn't scare me. So, tell him he can throw his worst at me...it's not going to work."

Christmas Present looked sadly at Kaiba, saying, "I've never said this to anyone before. But, I feel sorry for you..."

"Save the pity speech for someone who cares." Kaiba said.

Christmas Present then vanished, and all was back to normal.


	6. Chapter 6: Christmas Future

Chapter 6: Christmas Future 

Kaiba's eyes sprang open, seeing his bedroom around him. Remembering every aspect of that dream, he immediately pulled himself out of bed and went to the window to see this blizzard that was shown to him. Outside, there were a few flakes of snow, but nothing like the storm he had seen.

'What the fuck is this?' he thought, thinking back on that latest trip with the fat slob ghost. "Wait a minute. Mokuba can't be at that party...that's tomorrow."

Kaiba moved to the phone, pushed a few buttons and waited for security to answer.

"Security."

"Did Mokuba go anywhere tonight?" Kaiba asked.

"No, sir." the guard said.

"Thank you." He hung up the phone. So, then...was that a prediction of what was to come tomorrow?

'This is bullshit.' Kaiba thought. 'I've had enough. Fuck sleep...I don't need it. I've missed sleep before. One more night without it isn't going to kill me.'

So, Kaiba went into his bathroom and took a shower. He then came out, and went to his closet, putting on a black sweater and violet trench coat. It seemed like as good a night as any to take a walk, and he really needed some air after all those stupid dreams.

You can't escape your past. You can't escape...

Kaiba smirked, muttering, "Like hell, I can't. Let's see you get me when I'm not here. I bet Scrooge never tried this one before."

Dusting off his sleeve and making sure he looked perfect, he grabbed for his set of keys and casually walked to his bedroom door.

Yet, upon opening it...once again the hallway was still not the same.

On the other side of the door was an endless void. It looked familiar to Kaiba...it reminded him of the shadow realm that Yami had banished him to, at one time. And inside this void of swirling purplish mists was a figure that looked strikingly like the Reaper of the Cards.

Kaiba crossed his arms and muttered, "I thought you're only supposed to greet me when I'm asleep. Well, listen...I'm tired of this crap. Pack your little shadow realm and get out of my house. I'm trying to leave."

But, the creature shook his head no, as the door behind Kaiba now closed...leaving Kaiba no other option but to follow the undead.

Kaiba sighed, wondering if it could feel pain if he punched a phantom. It also made him wonder if he was still dreaming and he really didn't wake up, after all. But, if that was the case...then did that mean Mokuba was still stuck at Yugi's?

He quickly reminded himself that this was still Christmas Eve, whether he was dreaming or not. The party with Yugi wasn't supposed to be until tomorrow. And that meant, his brother was still safe in bed, and there was nothing to worry about. 'It's just a dream.' he said in his head and approached the Reaper.

"Okay, fine...then let's get this over with. I'd like to wake up and get back to my life." he told it.

The Reaper turned and pointed. Instantly, the whole scene around them was different...they were in a graveyard, in front of one of the graves.

Kaiba boredly approached and looked down at the grave marker, reading exactly what he expected to read. Just as he thought, it was his own grave.

Kaiba gave an amused laugh, muttering, "Well, that was pretty anti-climatic. Is that it? I already warned your buddy that this wasn't going to phase me. In fact, the only real surprise is that I actually lived as long as I did."

He turned to the Reaper, asking, "So, now what? Is that it? Can I go home? Or maybe you're going to show me life in hell. Then again, I think you missed the part where everyone laughs at my demise and spits at my grave."

The ghost then pointed to the date on the grave.

Kaiba shrugged, "So?" Finally, Kaiba caught on to the particular fact of that date. "Oh, I see...I died on Christmas Day. Is that supposed to be a form of irony or punishment? Or maybe it only proves that this holiday has had it in for me from the start."

Then the ghost pointed to a second grave. Kaiba vaguely glanced in the direction of the creature's finger, only to notice it was another grave marker. Assuming he understood what it was trying to show him, he glared back at the Reaper annoyed. "Gee...another grave. I 'have' seen this movie before, so I think I can pretty much guess who else has been buried here. That's that kid's grave, who's supposed to be the son of Bob Elliot...isn't it? Even now, you and your spirit gang are still trying to blame me for Bob Elliot's problems."

He then snapped, "And how the hell is this 'my' fault?? I'm not responsible for their lives! Bob had plenty of other options besides my job. I will 'not' keep some slacker that doesn't want to work in my facility! If it's anyone fault for this, it's Mr. Elliot! He's responsible to care for his children, and just like my own father...he failed!"

Kaiba paused from his own words, not expecting himself to blurt out that last part. He never planned on bringing up his own father...but obviously after Christmas Past had shoved his past back in his face, it must have affected him. He was not going to let these nightmares get to him...he was stronger than that.

Kaiba turned, ready to walk away, saying, "I've had enough...I'm out of here."

Yet, as soon as Kaiba turned to leave, the ghost held out its scythe to stop him. Kaiba turned to see what the creature wanted, only to notice once again it pointing its bony hand at the second grave.

He really didn't want to read it, but obviously the Reaper wasn't going to let him go until he did. "Fine." he muttered and looked more closely at it, just so he could be done with it.

What he saw came at a surprise. It wasn't Elliot's kid's grave sight, after all...it was Mokuba's.

'No...' he thought. Underneath was the date on the stone. It showed the date he was born on, but the day he died was not yet carved into the stone. What did this mean? Was Mokuba dead or not?

He pointed at the stone, facing the Reaper, as he asked with the utmost seriousness, "What happened? Did he die?"

In response, the ghost waved its arm and they were now inside Kaiba Corp. Kaiba didn't ask why he was brought here. Obviously, this ghost brought him here for an explanation to his question. And if his answer was here, then he'd play along.

A secretary walked passed him and he followed her to the main office of the CEO.

Kaiba and the ghost followed her inside, where she addressed the new Kaiba Corp President.

"Um…Mr. Kaiba sir?"

"What is it?"

"The lawyers called, they said that they understand that it's Christmas day and that they're suppose to come in to do the books. But, due to the snow storm they can't make it." the trembling secretary explained to a man who was facing the window.

Kaiba didn't recognize the taller man at the window with a professional suit and short black hair. And his name was Kaiba? Maybe this was farther in the future than he realized. Maybe Mokuba had a kid before he died. Kaiba almost smiled at that thought. To think his brother would have succeeded in making him an uncle. At least, his brother seemed to live a more fulfilling life.

But as the man turned around, Kaiba froze in shock.

It was Mokuba. Never could Kaiba remember his brother ever looking so cold. Frighteningly, his own little brother now reminded him of himself. Something was definitely not right.

"Then you call them back and tell them that if they aren't here within the next two hours, they're fired!"

"But…but sir…."

Mokuba coldly added, "And I suggest unless you'd like to join them on the unemployment line, along with my last 6 secretaries and half a dozen other employees I had to remove this month alone, that you don't question my orders and make that damn phone call!"

With this said, the woman fearfully bowed profusely, "Yes, yes...of course, Master Kaiba, sir. I'll get on it, right away!" She then turned to leave. But just before she left, she quickly ran back to his desk. "My apologies, sir. I also meant to tell you that your payment for your burial plot is due. Y-you said that you'd prefer to take care of that yourself."

"Yes, now go!" Mokuba snapped, taking the papers out of the woman's hand. He then coldly smirked, watching her as she fearfully ran out of the room.

If that was him Kaiba was watching, he probably would have found it equally amusing. He had to admit, making his employees scared of him he found an enjoyable hobby, himself. But, this was Mokuba, who would never do anything like that. He wasn't like himself at all, and Kaiba didn't like it one bit.

He turned towards the Reaper, asking, "What the hell is this? What's wrong with him?"

Mokuba looked at the paper and then stood and looked out the window. "Someday, big brother...I'll be right by your side, once again. And if I have any say in it...I'll try and make sure it's also on Christmas. But sadly, it wont be this year it seems." He could buy a dozen or more plots outright if he chose to. But he chose to do it in installments as a constant reminder of its waiting there for him.

Kaiba approached his brother, attempting to touch him...but he couldn't. In this vision, Kaiba was nothing more than a phantom. He couldn't touch his brother...not at all. But, while he was at the window, Kaiba glanced out to see the sight that Mokuba was seeing and it surprised him. This was supposed to be close to Christmas. And yet, there was no sign of it, at all. No lights, no Christmas trees...nothing that indicated it was a holiday.

Mokuba smirked, adding, "I wish you could see this, big brother. I was able to get enough people that hated Christmas as much as we do together to ban all outdoor Christmas celebration. I tried to get it banned inside of homes too, but one bleeding heart rejected it, and it was denied. But, you'd be proud of me. There's not a stitch of Christmas seen anywhere in or outside of any business in Domino. Someday, maybe we'll even expand it further. Perhaps over time, we could even succeed in wiping Christmas off the face of the Earth!"

Kaiba blinked, not understanding. Even he never asked for that. Just because he disagreed with Christmas, didn't mean he ever thought of pushing his belief on anyone else. Why was Mokuba doing this? His brother loved Christmas!

Kaiba now turned back to the Reaper. "I want answers! Mokuba was never like this. Just because I avoided him around Christmas, it does not justify Mokuba's total change in his beliefs. He never felt this way about this time of year! I want to know what changed him!"

The ghost did not speak. He merely swiped his scythe across the air. The next thing Kaiba knew, he was once again inside of Yugi's place. But, it didn't have quite as many decorations as it used to.

"Hey, Yugi...ya home?"

"Yeah, Joey...I'm in the back."

Kaiba reluctantly followed Joey. He wanted nothing to do with being here, but obviously this ghost could not speak, which meant the only way he would get answers was to follow. Even if he had to listen to them droll over more Christmas cheer, if this was the way to find out about Mokuba...then he would have to endure it.

"So, any business yet?"

Yugi sighed, "No. And it's really depressing to not be allowed to decorate for Christmas, anymore. If any cops saw the few I have out front, I'd probably be fined for it. It's like the Christmas spirit is totally dead though out Domino."

"Yeah, it's so lonely, too. Tea's in America trying to be a professional dancer, Tristan married that chick out of high school and they're living who knows where. And who could blame them for not wanting to stay here. Who ever heard of not being allowed to celebrate Christmas!" Joey snapped.

"It's nothing like it used to be." Yugi muttered, sadly.

"I know what ya mean." Joey said. "I always thought Kaiba was bad. Who would have guessed that Mokuba could be 10 times worse!"

"Well, you can't really blame him for hating Christmas, Joey. I mean, Kaiba basically taught him to hate it. And even though Mokuba refused to believe the same thing...I guess when that sniper took Kaiba out on Christmas day, he just snapped."

"Yeah, that's a good word for it." Joey muttered. "That kid's totally mental. And I always thought Kaiba was the nut job. Now, I'm not so sure."

Kaiba's eyes twitched, hearing this information. This wasn't what he was expecting, either. Mokuba took his death that hard? Kaiba always had his own death prepared, so that Mokuba would still be taken care of and provided for if anything happened to him. But for some reason, he never considered if his death could have any emotional repercussions on his brother or not. Mokuba might have ended up with everything...but he still lost his brother. And the saddest part was, Mokuba was following the same vicious loop that Kaiba had followed as a kid when he lost his parents on Christmas...but only worst.

Yugi sighed, "I just can't help but feel sorry for him. He was still in a lot of ways young when Kaiba died. He probably never really had the chance to be a kid. He wanted to be more grown up and Kaiba treated him that way. So, I guess its no big surprise that he turned out to be even more cold hearted."

"That's a lie!!" Kaiba spat angrily at that imagine. "I did everything I could to make sure my brother had a childhood! What the hell more did you want from me?!!"

Joey gave a bitter laugh, saying, "Gee, Yugi...maybe ya shoulda tried to shatter Mokuba's heart. It at least worked a little for Kaiba."

Yugi shook his head. "Yami's gone now, remember? But, even if he was around and could do it, it wouldn't do any good."

"Why's that?" Joey asked.

Yugi looked down in sadness. "Because Mokuba was Kaiba's motivation to come back. Mokuba has nothing left but the sadness and anger in his heart. If that happened to him, he wouldn't survive it. I've tried to see Mokuba and talk to him about this myself, but he wont even let me in the building, anymore."

Joey added, "I've heard he already has a head stone and burial plot all ready for him, too. Is that true?"

Yugi nodded. "I've seen the grave sight, the last time I visited Kaiba's grave. It's there, all right. The stone's already in place just waiting for himself to die. I guess joining his brother is all he thinks about, now."

"That's just creepy." Joey said.

Yugi shook his head. "No, it's sad. He's lost any reason or will to live."

Kaiba just froze there, hearing what was said. He couldn't be angry, anymore. It didn't matter anymore what their opinion was...Kaiba knew what he had done. 'Mokuba...I failed you.'

The Reaper then waved his scythe once again, and they were back in his bedroom.


	7. Chapter 7: Resolution

Chapter 7: Resolution 

Kaiba's eyes shot open, confused over his surroundings. Was he still in the future? Was he still dreaming?

That's when he realized that the alarm was going off in the background. Did that wake him up or did his alarm do it?

As he sat up, he realized he was still in his pajamas and never got dressed. He looked into his drawer where the liquor and pills were and they didn't look tampered with last night. Did any of that happen, at all?

Kaiba then got up and looked out the window, which showed no sign of snow. The sun was shining bright out this morning. He could also tell there were Christmas lights shining on people's homes, despite it no longer being dark out.

He gave a slight chuckle, now thinking on the stupidity of his dream. 'Mokuba losing it and hating Christmas. What a ridiculous dream. I can't believe I almost believed it.'

Shaking his head, he agreed to himself to ban all Christmas shows in his house, and then went to the bathroom to get ready.

Kaiba came downstairs to the kitchen, now dressed and ready for his meeting with his accountants and lawyers, ready to see Mokuba at the table.

Mokuba still looked downcast, as he put his cereal on the table and sat down to eat. He glanced up at Kaiba, saying, "Good morning, Seto. Merry Christmas."

"Hmph." Kaiba muttered back, moving to his coffee. Mokuba didn't find it very surprising.

He sat down with his toast, coffee, and paper to read. But instead of calmly reading the front page, Mokuba found him looking through page after page for something specific.

"Seto...is something wrong?" he asked.

"Where's the weather report for today?" he asked.

Mokuba said, "Unless it's something serious, it's normally farther back." He took a bite of his cereal, adding, "It's supposed to be a good day today. Very little snow, I hear."

Kaiba found the weather report, and sure enough it...showed no sign of a snow storm. 'I was right. It was just a stupid dream...nothing more.'

As they ate at the table, Mokuba next noticed his brother seemed even quieter than usual. He turned to him, saying, "Seto...is something wrong?"

"No." he said immediately. But, after another moment, he looked over towards Mokuba, as if wanting to ask him something, but hesitant to do so.

"Are you sure?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba looked down, muttering, "I just wanted to be sure. I mean...you understand just because I don't like this holiday, that doesn't mean I expect you to also be against it, right?"

"Well, yeah. Actually...I don't know." Mokuba said, sounding surprisingly uncertain. He looked away, adding, "I mean...you never like me having a tree, here."

"I don't like seeing the tree." Kaiba said. "It doesn't mean..."

Kaiba stopped and turned away, saying, "Listen. If you want a tree in your room, I wont have a problem with it. As long as it's away from me, I don't mind."

Mokuba looked surprised. "You mean...I could keep the tree?"

"In your room." Kaiba added.

"Thanks, big brother!" Mokuba said, hugging him.

Despite his brother's hug, that didn't make him feel any better. Did Mokuba honestly think he was pushing his beliefs on him? Could his dream have any truth in it, after all?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba made sure he had everything for the meeting and headed to work, despite his growing inner conflicts. He refused to believe that his dream had any significance with real life. He never believed dreams or nightmares had any real meaning before...so, why change now?

Kaiba entered the meeting area as smoothly as ever, and began his talk with those that worked for him. Kaiba then sat down, allowing his head accountant to speak.

After the accountant was done with his speech, his lawyer next pulled out a folder to state some concerns on certain accounting aspects, as Kaiba calmly listened.

As he did, Kaiba noticed out of the corner of his eye one of his accountants had suddenly taken his phone out and moved away from the table to make a phone call.

"Mr. Sanders...is there something you find more important than this meeting, that requires you to interrupt it for a phone call?" he asked coldly, not entirely pleased with the sight before him.

He turned, saying, "Please forgive me, Mr. Kaiba. I just noticed the snow and thought I should warn my wife. She's supposed to be heading to work around now."

"Snow?" Kaiba asked, and turned to look out the window...as well as the others who weren't paying attention. The snow coming down was massive and looked like it had no intention on yielding anytime soon. If it kept up, it could cause some serious road conditions.

Kaiba just blankly stared at the snow, feeling a sudden dread coming over him. 'Could that dream be real?'

"That's strange..." his head accountant said. "It wasn't even supposed to snow today."

His lawyer chuckled. "Since when are the weathermen ever right?"

At that moment, Kaiba stood up so abruptly, it caught everyone off guard. He grabbed for his coat, saying, "We're delaying the book closings until tomorrow."

"Sir??" the head account said in shock, everyone looking at him as if they hadn't heard him clearly.

Kaiba put his coat on, stating, "There's nothing that pressing with the book closings that can't allow us to delay this for another day." He pointed as his main accountant, adding, "Reschedule it for tomorrow. Inform my secretary so that she can schedule it for the best time. Gentlemen..."

Kaiba paused, then replied, "...Merry Christmas."

"Uh...yes..." they muttered, blankly.

Finally, Roland stood at attention and bowed, saying, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Kaiba!"

The others immediately followed suit, bowing to him in respect. He offered a nod back to them in return. He then abruptly turned, causing his coat to whirl almost dramatically as he left the office.

Kaiba left in a rush to his car. He wasn't sure if it was all true or not. The idea of Mokuba changing so drastically still seemed almost unrealistic to him. Was that dream a warning or a personal threat to him to change?

Well, Kaiba had no intention on changing for anyone. But, that didn't mean he wouldn't do all in his power to try and prevent what he had seen from happening with his brother, either.

'Maybe I did fail him.' he thought, remembering Mokuba following the same path he had. And why? Because Kaiba allowed himself to be too focused during Christmas on his own angst, then remembering that Mokuba was his top priority anytime time of year, no matter what. 'But, it wont happen again...'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Joey sputtered, "That lousy bastard can't even take time off to spend with his brother? What the hell kind of brother is that?"

Ignoring Joey, Tea asked, "So Mokuba, why did you bring a tree?"

"Oh. Well...Seto doesn't exactly like having Christmas trees or decorations in our house. But, he did suggest that I bring it here for you guys!" Mokuba smiled, making it sound like Kaiba was being generous.

"That prick wont even let you to put up a tree??" Joey asked.

"Now now, Joey...I'm sure Kaiba has his reasons for hating Christmas." Yugi said.

"Of course he does!" Joey snapped. "It's the season to be jolly, and have friends, and care for people. It figures he'd be the anti-Christ when it comes to Christmas!"

"Joey, that's not nice." Tea said.

"Don't you talk about my brother, that way!" Mokuba snapped. "He does care about me. Even if he does disagree with the holidays, he was willing to even let me keep it and set it up in my room today if I wanted to, despite how he feels about it!"

"Oh, yeah?" Joey asked. "Well, if that's the case, then why did you bring it here?"

Mokuba then smiled, saying, "Because Seto doesn't understand. Christmas isn't about selfishly hoarding it in my room where no one else can see it. It's about sharing it with others...that's why I didn't want it in my room."

Tea gushed, "That is so sweet!"

Joey sniffed, "Man, kid...you can put tears to my eyes."

"Master Mokuba, if you're all settled...I'm going to have to leave now, before the storm gets any worst." the driver said.

"I hope it's not too late, now. It's gotten really bad!" Yugi said.

At Yugi's utterance of the storm getting worst, the others then joined the driver Paul at the door to look at the outside snow. "Wow." Mokuba said, beginning to feel concern for his driver. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

The driver smiled, saying, "I'll be okay." and headed to the other side of the car.

Just then, everyone turned to see a lone figure standing out in the unforgiving snow, facing the group. Joey and Tristan both cringed behind Yugi, thinking it was a ghost. Even the driver turned, startled at the figure that seemed to mysteriously arrive out of the cover of the storm.

"Who's there?" Yugi asked suspiciously. After all, who'd even be crazy enough to be walking in this?

The figure came closer and to everyone's surprise, it was Kaiba carrying two grocery bags of stuff.

"Master Kaiba!" the driver said in shock, not expecting to see the boss show up here. Everyone else was equally surprised. In fact...it left them speechless.

Kaiba shook the snow from his hair, reaching where the driver was. Never taking his eyes from Yugi's group, he muttered to him, "Good luck getting back. My car ended up stuck a few block's down. I suggest you stay on the most plowed roads you can. If you find a salt truck, stay behind him."

"Yes, sir." the man bowed, then went into his car and slowly drove away.

Mokuba then raced to his brother, giving him a big hug. "Big brother! What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to come to Yugi's Christmas party!"

"I don't." Kaiba snapped, glaring at Yugi. "I didn't do this for them." Kaiba then looked down at his brother and smiled. "I did this for you."

"Seto..." Mokuba said, not sure what else to say.

He then gave Mokuba a smirk, saying, "Besides...I knew with a storm this bad, there was no chance that you were going to make it back tonight. And there's no way I'm trusting you alone with these losers."

"Losers??!!" Joey snapped. "Why you lousy...mph!!"

Tristan quickly blocked Joey's mouth, saying cheerfully, "Remember, Joey...it's Christmas. Be nice."

"Come on, let's get inside." Yugi said. "You must be freezing, walking all this way."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

They all went inside, as Kaiba shook the snow off his coat, before taking it off and hanging it up on a coat rack.

Mokuba said, "Seto...you know, now that you showed up, you're going to be stuck here, too."

"That's fine, I brought my laptop." Kaiba said, causing a sweat to drop on everyone else.

Kaiba then handed one of the bags to Mokuba, saying, "I have some additional covers for you, so you can be more comfortable while you're sleeping over."

"They're for you too, right?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba shrugged, muttering, "Whatever." really having no intention on sleeping tonight anyway at some stranger's house. Thus...the reason he brought his laptop.

He then handed the other bag to Yugi, saying, "Here. There was no time to wrap them, but I figured its tradition to offers gifts to a party, nonetheless."

Everyone's jaw dropped. Yugi smiled, saying, "Thanks...you didn't have to do that."

"I know." Kaiba replied.

Joey finally picked his jaw up, sputtering, "You got us gifts for the party?? You???? Who 'are' you??"

Kaiba gave Joey a glare, shutting him up quick.

"Anyone want some eggnog?" Tea asked, in an attempt to once again liven up the party.

Kaiba ignored her, turning to see that Tristan was starting to put up Mokuba's tree. He stared at it for a moment, remembering the part of the dream with Christmas past...the part with him and his parents. It was the main reason he always tried to avoid Christmas like the plague. Every time he looked at a tree, it made him think of only painful memories. Even if he was here for Mokuba, he couldn't help but feel sad over the loss of his parents. How could Christmas ever feel good to him, when all it did was remind him of pain and death?

"So, Kaiba..." Joey said, snapping him out of his nostalgic thoughts for the moment. "I always wanted to ask you this. Why do you hate Christmas so much?"

"That's none of your business." Kaiba said.

He then looked back at the tree and saw a sight he probably hadn't seen in years...maybe something he hadn't ever seen at all.

Mokuba was now there at the tree, helping to hang ornaments with Tristan. His brother was smiling and laughing, and looked so happy.

That instant, Kaiba's eyes widened in realization. He didn't have to avoid Christmas at all to hide from the pain. Through his brother's happiness, he could remove the looming shadow he'd always seen over this holiday, and end up instead creating good memories of their own.

Kaiba then added to his response. "Besides...maybe it's not so bad, after all."

"Really?" Joey asked.

A hint of a smile then grew on his face, as he saw Mokuba pick up the star and look up at the top of the tree, trying to figure out how to get it up there.

Kaiba stood and approached his brother. He surprised Mokuba, as he picked him up, allowing his brother to put the star on...just as he remembered his Dad doing for him, back when he once enjoyed this merry day.

Yugi smiled as he watched the scene in front of him. Though Kaiba was still the same person, there was something small that seemed to change in him. He didn't know how...but somehow Kaiba seemed to have finally found the joy of Christmas.

End 


End file.
